teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

This recent Wall Street Journal article, “India Solar Rules Burn U.S.” (February 8, 2011, non-subscribers click here) describes how India has banned the sale of foreign-made solar panels, unless the seller sets up a local manufacturing plant with a joint venture.  India has great potential for solar, but this change in the external market environment puts a crimp on U.S. solar firms.  This is a good example to use when discussing the legal aspects of the external market environment or international distribution.

New products are important, but in these hard times many firms have cut new product development budgets.  Now many firms are learning jugaad - and Indian approach to new product development that focuses on innovation at low costs.  See “India’s Next Global Export: Innovation“” (BusinessWeek, December 2, 2009).  This might help with discussions of NPD or in control and cost management.

This article (“Fertilizers on Wheels,” The Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2009, no subscription? click here) and short video (2:39, see below) describe the marketing strategies for two different firms selling fertilizer to farmers in rural India.   The video provides an interesting addition to class because it gives students a look at rural India.  The topics covered include selling to businesses, integrated marketing communications, and distribution – all in the international context of a developing country.  I showed this video in class after lecturing from our first promotion chapter.  I asked students to think about why I thought this reflected IMC and to note the different types of Promotion they observed.  A variety of different forms of promotion (even sales promotion) are demonstrated and can be tied to the AIDA model.